MARCH MADNESS

 March Madness…it’s here. I’ve been counting down the days for the last several weeks. March seems like the fastest month of the year. This year the month starts with the 13^th Region Tournament, then goes into the girls state basketball tournament followed by March 17^th the opening day of the boys’ state basketball tournament.

Bill Crook talked about Corbin and Cuba in his column today. I’m not as old as Bill, but I can remember going to my room as a kid, turning on the state tournament and listening to the play-by-play. One of the first things I remember is the announcers talking about the colors and uniforms of the teams and cheerleaders. The one that sticks out in my mind of the Harlan Green Dragons. I would sit there and try to visualize everything.

Playing in the same district with Shelby County, I can remember the Shelby County-Knox Central thriller of 1966 and the names of Mike Casey, Bill Busey and Terry Mills.

I didn’t attend my first state tournament until 1972. I attended all the games, but it was all the fun in between those games that I have some found memories of staying in the Seelback Hotel in Louisville.

As long as I can remember, I always picked the teams that would go to state on the Monday when they were released by the Louisville Courier-Journal or the Lexington Herald Leader. I’ve kept that tradition going and have convinced my co-workers to make an office pool out of it. We pick every team in every region until we have the champion.

Trent Knuckles and I competed against one another for the first couple of years, now we have five going for a handsome jackpot.

Don Estep, Bill Crook, Chris Parsons, Trent and myself are battling for the right to be called Mr. Basketball. Don beat me last year, so it’s time for a new King of the Hill.

I’ve made some bold picks, like Hazard in the 14^th, Muhlenberg County in the 3^rd region, South Oldham in the 8^th and Trinity in the 7^th.

I think I might have picked too many region favorites and you know how that goes, not all the top dogs are going to win. There has always been and upset or two along the way.

And, yes, I have picked the Corbin Redhounds to repeat. I think this year’s region will be one of the best ever and we say that every year.

The coaches are not blowing smoke when they tell us that four or five teams could win the region. I believe that too. I believe Corbin is the favorite with Clay County, South Laurel and Knox Central right on their heels. Harlan County, Bell County and North Laurel are capable of getting on a roll and winning the region. If Barbourville is not the Cinderella, who is? Remember the 2006 region at Clay County. Coach Dinky Phipps team came in the number eight team and beat Cawood (71-60), knocked off Clay County (63-54) and nearly pulled the upset of the state before losing to South Laurel, 47-46.

THE ARENA will add to the excitement of the 13^th Region this year. We have waited for months now to see how it is all going to pan out. I am looking forward to seeing if the 13^th region can fill the THE ARENA and how the officials at the Corbin facility interact with the 13^th region and its fans.